A group of guys are drawn to the same bar in downtown Los Angeles by an ex-girlfriend (Katee Sackhoff) they all have in common.I have to say my least favorite Buffy actor (Seth Green) is canceled out by my favorite one (Michelle Trachtenberg). Green is as obnoxious and terrible as ever, while Trachtenberg is performing on top of her game. Round it out with Billy Baldwin and Harold Perrineau ("Lost") and this is a solid cast of characters.This film is awesome to repeatedly reference My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, one of the greatest (overlooked) bands of the 1980s and 90s. And then actually playing it... wow. Never thought I would see that outside of a movie from Gregg Araki. (I do resent it being called "bubblegum", though.) A great first feature from director Shawn Piller, who had already made his name in television with "Dead Zone" and "Haven". Writer Scott Lew is also a "Dead Zone" alumnus. I look forward to their future endeavors.

This movie is unworthy of the title "Sexy Evil Genius." There was nothing sexy, no real genius involved and the closest to evil was this chick's utter wackiness. Overall, the movie was boring. A bunch of people sit in a bar and talk old times about a crazy ex. The climax wasn't even close to thrilling. Instead of watching this movie, have a couple drinks and watch just about anything on TV. And since I need 10 lines to submit this review, here are some much better things to watch: "American Horror Story," "Hostages," "Sons of Anarchy," "The Black List," old "Law & Order" episodes (any of them) and "Homicide: Life on the Streets." Shoot, even "Gilligan's Island" was more entertaining!

Zachary arrives at a bar because Nikki asked to meet her there. Miranda joins him at 8:00 pm. They talk, mostly about Nikki. Marvin shows up at 8:30, looking for Zachary and Miranda. The stories about Nikki continue. All three of them had received one sort of wonderful thing or another from Nikki, and all of them had been lied to in different ways.Miranda says that Nikki called her from an insane asylum, where Nikki had been found innocent by reason of insanity of murdering a stalker. They wonder whether any of this was true. Miranda says yes, she had googled Nikki's case, and found plenty of authentic public records about her legal situation. They discuss Nikki's stalker, Mark, and his public records.Nikki shows up at 9:00, knowing that the three of them have been talking about her the whole time. She tells them Bert will show up next. Bert is her lawyer, lover, and fiancé. The discussions continue, especially about Nikki's arrest for murdering Mark. Mark was her lover after she left Marvin. They were heroin junkies together. Insanity entered in somewhere; she killed Marvin, and did not know it.Bert says that he stays with Nikki because he is certain she has been cured of her mental condition. She now sees that her previous homicidal thoughts toward Marvin and the others were parts of her insanity and have to be let go.The writing here is just brilliant. Nikki uses Marvin, Miranda, and Zachary to help pressure Bert in to accepting a wedding date roughly a year in the future. Also, she wanted Zachary to meet Miranda.This is only the beginning of the film. These smart people who know Nikki have a lot more to do before this encounter is over. Nikki is mightily challenged by Bert, a man who is a 'better liar than I am.' Bert on the other hand, things of Nikki as 'walking Viagra.'The peeling away of layers of story together with re-interpretations of previous statements continues.How does this end? ------Scores-------Cinematography: 10/10 Some of the best low-light photography I've ever seen. Very atmospheric.Sound: 10/10 No problems.Acting: 10/10 Best performance I've ever seen from Michelle Trachtenberg and from Seth Green. Katee Sackhoff, Harold Perrineau, and William Baldwin were great.Screenplay: 10/10 One of the best, tightest scripts I've seen in a long time.

Actually, the characters and actors, minus the lead, all make the film work a lot better than it would have. The lead, however, Sackhoff, just doesn't fit. She looks like a mom 10 years older than the characters who are supposed to be at or near the same age. I guess this is a case study in how a single important character miscast can leave a film being little more than olives and alcohol.Besides being a psychotic-lite drama with a little humor thanks largely to the actors, it also taps into, with better than average insight, common early-to-mid life crisis issues along with sexual abuse issues. Had it not decided to also be a War on Drugs propaganda film, I might even call it smart. Maybe when the writer learns Cobain carried Nirvana, he'll have enough smarts to put together genius films like Matt Damon has done.